Filipino Domestic Workers in Hong Kong De-Stress Through Yoga

Philippine Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza addresses the 160 participants, half of whom were Filipino household service workers (HSWs), as the other guests – Louise Vas, Community Coordinator and Project Leader of the Andiappan Yoga Community (AYC), Anna Hsu, Director of Anahata Yoga, AYC Founder Dr. Yogananth Andiappan, Consul Maneesh Kumar of the Consulate General of India in Hong Kong, and Mr. Edmond Yu, Senior Assistant Executive Director of Hong Kong Vocational Training Council – listen at the International Yoga Day event organized at the Morrison Hill Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) on 24 June 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)

HONG KONG 23 July 2018 – A growing number of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) who constitute the majority of 370,000 foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong are turning to yoga to cope with the stressful demands of a six-day workweek, say organizers of an event held in Wan Chai District to mark International Yoga Day on 24 June 2018.

The Philippine Consulate General participated in the event organized at the Morrison Hill Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) by non-profit organization Andiappan Yoga Community (AYC), and Hong Kong’s Vocational Training Council (VTC) for 160 participants, half of whom were foreign–mostly Filipino–domestic helpers.

AYC Founder Dr. Yogananth Andiappan commended Filipino and Indonesian workers for their participation as he guided them through one of the five sessions scheduled for the day. His family founded the AYC as a charity arm, Anahata Yoga as commercial studio, and the International Yoga Academy (IYA) as an instructor training center in Hong Kong.

The day-long program, which was organized in collaboration with the Indian Consulate General in Hong Kong and the UNESCO Hong Kong Association, was intended to also recognize the volunteer instructors who teach yoga classes throughout the year for the less privileged.

“Our yoga students may live with limited resources or difficult circumstances. As well as free lessons, we try to make available the yoga mats, blocks, and straps—and even transportation to the class,” said Dr. Andiappan, whose family runs the Asana Andiappan College and Research Centre of Yoga in Chennai, India.

In remarks given at the opening ceremony, Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza was impressed at the enthusiasm of the participants, especially the Filipino HSWs, for choosing to spend their only day off wisely and constructively, adding that the same attitude that attracted them to yoga will ensure their success in other endeavors.

This was echoed by Philippine-born Hong Kong permanent resident Louise Vas, who is one of the volunteer yoga instructors certified by the IYA.

“Domestic helpers work tirelessly day in and day out. If they could have a little time dedicated for themselves to do yoga, they would feel alive, refreshed and inspired when they go back to work,” said Vas, who is the leader of AYC’s Overseas Workers (OSW) Project.

Vas said that since starting the project in 2014, attendance has grown nine-fold to 180 regular students per week.

The OSW Project offers four classes during the week: once each on Wednesdays and Sundays at Discovery Bay, and once each on Saturdays on Des Voeux Road and the Central Ferry Pier in Central. END

For more information, visit www.hongkongpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinHK/

Volunteer teachers of the Overseas Workers (OSW) Project of the Andiappan Yoga Community, a non-profit, volunteer organization, led by Project Leader Louise Vas, are recognized by Philippine Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza on behalf of the organizers AYC and Hong Kong’s Vocational Training Council at the International Yoga Day event held at the Morrison Hill Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) on 24 June 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)

Filipino household service workers (HSWs), who constituted half of the 160 day’s events’ participants, surround Philippine Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza while making the Anjali Mudra gesture at the end of the opening ceremonies at the International Yoga Day event held at the Morrison Hill Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) on 24 June 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)